North Carolina was the first colony to order its delegates to declare independence

Evidence

In this tense setting, North Carolina patriots gathered for their Fourth Provincial Congress on April 4 at Halifax near the Virginia border, far from Martin and any British troops. … On April 12, by its approval of the so-called Halifax Resolves, North Carolina became the first colony in America to instruct its delegation in Congress “to concur with the Delegates of the other Colonies in declaring independency.” Free of instructions on the matter from their colonies, all the New England delegations had supported independence by this time on the basis of the views of their members. — Edward J. Larson, Declaring Independence, 137

The Provincial Congress complied. On April 12, by its approval of the so-called Halifax Resolves, North Carolina became the first colony in America to instruct its delegation in Congress “to concur with the Delegates of the other Colonies in declaring independency.” Free of instructions on the matter from their colonies, all the New England delegations had supported independence by this time on the basis of the views of their members. — Edward J. Larson, Declaring Independence, 137

Categorization

• XREF: The instruction mechanism is a concrete instance of the course’s focus on how delegates were bound and authorized to interpret and apply legal authority. — connects to: Jefferson’s inserted preamble made Virginia the first state to declare independence. — Edward J. Larson, Declaring Independence, 203
• corroborated: 2 independent passages support this claim — Edward J. Larson, Declaring Independence, 137